Published: Tuesday, March 6, 2007 at 6:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, March 6, 2007 at 12:00 a.m.

Facts

MULTIMEDIA: VIDEO

MIAMI - Last week, prosecutors talked about the individual pieces to the puzzle they say link John Evander Couey to the rape and murder of Jessica Lunsford. On Monday, those pieces started to fit together.
Forensic experts provided the bulk of the testimony, with each testifying about evidence collected at the scene. There was the DNA trace evidence found in Couey's bedroom - like Jessica Lunsford's blood and Couey's semen - and testimony from another expert showed the speaker wire used to bind Jessica's wrists was an identical match to the wire from the homemade television antenna Couey was trying to rig for the single-wide mobile home in Homosassa.
Possibly the most damning testimony against Couey was the DNA evidence.
Florida Department of Law Enforcement DNA analyst Roshale Gaytmenn testified that Jessica's blood was on found on a mattress and that a small portion was also found in the middle-bedroom closet. Next to the blood and mixed with it was Couey's semen.
Prosecutors allege Couey, 48, broke in the Lunsford home on Feb. 23, 2005, abducted Jessica, raped her and later murdered her by binding her hands with wire, putting her in a black garbage bag and burying her alive. Monday was the third day of testimony in the state's case against the convicted sex offender.
Gaytmenn got on the stand at 1:18 p.m. and testified until 4 p.m.
Couey's defense lawyer Daniel Lewan spent more than an hour asking about DNA analysis, how she handled the testing and why other DNA in Couey's bedroom was not tested against other people who lived with Couey.
Earlier on Monday, people who lived with Couey testified. Among them were Matthew Dittrich, Dorothy Dixon's then-boyfriend, and Gene Secord, Maddie Secord's husband. Dixon is Couey's half-sister, and Maddie Secord is Dixon's daughter and Couey's niece.
Dittrich testified he was never in Couey's room alone. In Couey's alleged confession to Citrus County corrections officers, Couey told officers that at one point Dittrich was alone in the bedroom while Jessica was in the closet. Those corrections officers are expected to testify sometime this week.
Dittrich, Maddie Secord and Dixon were all arrested for obstruction of justice in connection to Jessica's murder. Charges were later dropped because, at the time, lying to police about Couey's whereabouts before he was a named suspect was not against the law.
Secord testified he was in jail, accused of failing to pay child support, when Couey was first arrested for the crime. Secord said Couey talked a lot about religion.
"I asked him, if he believed in religion so much, how could he have done something like he did," Secord testified.
He said Couey told him: "It's in the past" and that "if his sister would've loved him more he wouldn't have done this."
On Monday, Jessica's mother, Angela Bryant, made her first appearance at the trial. She appeared solemn and sometimes in deep thought. Bryant and Mark Lunsford divorced when Jessica was a toddler.
Outside the courthouse, Lunsford talked about the gruesome photos of his daughter in a black, garbage bag and on a medical examiner's table. He saw them for the first time on Friday, the same day jurors saw them.
"I think Friday was the worst day for me," he said.
The former dirt-truck driver turned child-protection advocate was quick to talk about a broken criminal justice system and government system which doesn't fund child protection and sex offender laws.
"It's not just this scumbag. It's our system," Lunsford said. "Maybe they should see the wire that tied my daughter's hands."
Also on Monday, experts testified about other physical evidence. FDLE expert Jerry Cirino testified the speaker wire tied on Jessica Lunsford's hands is an identical match to wire found outside the home Couey lived in with Dixon.
Another expert testified that Jessica's fingerprints were in Couey's bedroom. Fingerprints were found on a glass tabletop, in the closet and on some Domino's pizza boxes.Mabel Perez may be reached at mabel.perez@starbanner.com or (352) 867-4106.

MIAMI - Last week, prosecutors talked about the individual pieces to the puzzle they say link John Evander Couey to the rape and murder of Jessica Lunsford. On Monday, those pieces started to fit together.<BR>
Forensic experts provided the bulk of the testimony, with each testifying about evidence collected at the scene. There was the DNA trace evidence found in Couey's bedroom - like Jessica Lunsford's blood and Couey's semen - and testimony from another expert showed the speaker wire used to bind Jessica's wrists was an identical match to the wire from the homemade television antenna Couey was trying to rig for the single-wide mobile home in Homosassa.<BR>
Possibly the most damning testimony against Couey was the DNA evidence.<BR>
Florida Department of Law Enforcement DNA analyst Roshale Gaytmenn testified that Jessica's blood was on found on a mattress and that a small portion was also found in the middle-bedroom closet. Next to the blood and mixed with it was Couey's semen.<BR>
Prosecutors allege Couey, 48, broke in the Lunsford home on Feb. 23, 2005, abducted Jessica, raped her and later murdered her by binding her hands with wire, putting her in a black garbage bag and burying her alive. Monday was the third day of testimony in the state's case against the convicted sex offender.<BR>
Gaytmenn got on the stand at 1:18 p.m. and testified until 4 p.m.<BR>
Couey's defense lawyer Daniel Lewan spent more than an hour asking about DNA analysis, how she handled the testing and why other DNA in Couey's bedroom was not tested against other people who lived with Couey.<BR>
Earlier on Monday, people who lived with Couey testified. Among them were Matthew Dittrich, Dorothy Dixon's then-boyfriend, and Gene Secord, Maddie Secord's husband. Dixon is Couey's half-sister, and Maddie Secord is Dixon's daughter and Couey's niece.<BR>
Dittrich testified he was never in Couey's room alone. In Couey's alleged confession to Citrus County corrections officers, Couey told officers that at one point Dittrich was alone in the bedroom while Jessica was in the closet. Those corrections officers are expected to testify sometime this week.<BR>
Dittrich, Maddie Secord and Dixon were all arrested for obstruction of justice in connection to Jessica's murder. Charges were later dropped because, at the time, lying to police about Couey's whereabouts before he was a named suspect was not against the law.<BR>
Secord testified he was in jail, accused of failing to pay child support, when Couey was first arrested for the crime. Secord said Couey talked a lot about religion.<BR>
"I asked him, if he believed in religion so much, how could he have done something like he did," Secord testified.<BR>
He said Couey told him: "It's in the past" and that "if his sister would've loved him more he wouldn't have done this."<BR>
On Monday, Jessica's mother, Angela Bryant, made her first appearance at the trial. She appeared solemn and sometimes in deep thought. Bryant and Mark Lunsford divorced when Jessica was a toddler.<BR>
Outside the courthouse, Lunsford talked about the gruesome photos of his daughter in a black, garbage bag and on a medical examiner's table. He saw them for the first time on Friday, the same day jurors saw them.<BR>
"I think Friday was the worst day for me," he said.<BR>
The former dirt-truck driver turned child-protection advocate was quick to talk about a broken criminal justice system and government system which doesn't fund child protection and sex offender laws.<BR>
"It's not just this scumbag. It's our system," Lunsford said. "Maybe they should see the wire that tied my daughter's hands."<BR>
Also on Monday, experts testified about other physical evidence. FDLE expert Jerry Cirino testified the speaker wire tied on Jessica Lunsford's hands is an identical match to wire found outside the home Couey lived in with Dixon.<BR>
Another expert testified that Jessica's fingerprints were in Couey's bedroom. Fingerprints were found on a glass tabletop, in the closet and on some Domino's pizza boxes.<BR>
<i>Mabel Perez may be reached at mabel.perez@starbanner.com or (352) 867-4106.<BR></i>